Today

One of my favorite authors is Thomas Hardy. Often the weather or the backdrop of scenes in his books reflect the moods or emotions of the main characters. Yesterday my life could well have been a Thomas Hardy novel. It was raining all day and the sky was grey. I haven't yet discovered whether it was the weather that got me down or whether I was down in the first place. Whichever it was, the day was miserable and where was the silver lining?
This morning I found out what the silver lining was. Pikes Peak has snow on the top of it. It looks spectacular. I wish I could capture how wonderful it is. My picture doesn't do it justice.


And the sky is the most beautiful clear blue. The temperature got no higher than 75 degrees so we decided to go hiking. We found a great 2.2 mile hike along a canyon at Manitou Springs. It's basically an old railroad bed and along the way there were 6 tunnels through the rock to explore. Two of them were long enough to where you couldn't initially see the light at the end and so flashlights were necessary. It was uplifting to my spirits to be amongst the mountains. I'm grateful for these moments. I can't wait to show this hike to my family. Here are some photos.


The initial climb up to the trail head. A bit scary for the kids!


Approaching the first of the tunnels


A nice view along the way


Being careful not to trip on boulders in the dark


Stopping to take in the scenery and eat a snack


Two hours of fresh air and exercise + a bag of M&Ms = a sleepy three year old